CMCA-Sydney Lions encounter sees fitting finale to great game of cricket

The Colombo Masters Cricket Association (CMCA) cricket team continued their winning streak by beating the Sydney Lions by five runs in a nail-biting veterans 35-over cricket encounter played recently at the P. Sara Oval. 

Prior to the commencement of the game, both teams were introduced to the former Royal College cricket captain Jagath Fernando, who was the guest of honour.

After winning the toss, the CMCA decided to take first lease of a rather slow wicket and ended up scoring 177 runs in the allotted overs. The chief scorers for CMCA were Sisila Indraratne 33, Nalliah Devarajan 30 and Amitha Abeynaike 30. In the bowling department for the Sydney Lions, two wickets each were shared by Shanthikumar, Stanly Jayantha and Rajan.

The Sydney Lions in reply scored 172 for 8 in their 35 overs, with former Royalist Prassana Kariyawasam opening the batting and scoring 31, Skandakumar 28 and Kingsley Rajasingham 23. The highlight of the game for the Sydney Lions was a 47-run partnership between Kingsly Rajasingham and Skandakumar for the fourth wicket, but luckily for CMCA Kingly Rajasingham was run out. Then the Sydney Lions batsmen struggled to gain a rhythm due to the quick bowling of Pugitha Gunawardena, who had a splendid performance with the ball, taking three wickets for 35 runs. Credit must go to the Sydney Lions who made a terrific effort to chase down the runs, but fell just short of the victory target.

After the game, both teams spent time reminiscing about the good old cricketing days and enjoyed reconnecting with each other. 

Scores:

CMCA – 177 all out in 34.3 overs - Sisila Indraratne 33 n.o., Nalliah Devarajan 30 n.o., Amitha Abeynaike 30 n.o., Ramesh Wanakuwatte 17, Chrisantha De Silva 15, Roshan Phillip 15.

Bowling – Skandakumar 2 for 16, Stanley Jayantha 2 for 32, Rajan 2 for 22, Lacky Ratnam and Ganendra Shanmugaratnam claimed one wicket each.

Sydney Lions – 172 for 8 in 35 overs Prasanna Kariyawasam 31 n.o., Skandakumar 28, Kingsley Rajasingham 23, Ganendra Shanmugaratnam 19, Ray Ramanan 17

Bowling – Pugitha Gunawardena 3 for 35, Sisila Indrarathne 2 for 28, Roshan Phillip 1 for 29